A collection of top water news from around California and the West compiled each weekday. Send any comments or article submissions to Foundation News & Publications Director Vik Jolly.
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The headlines below are the original headlines used in the publication cited at the time they are posted here and do not reflect the stance of the Water Education Foundation, an impartial nonprofit that remains neutral.
The robust plan to start rebuilding Lake Hodges dam has come to
a screeching halt as a new cost analysis has just jumped from
$275 million to between roughly $500 million and $700 million.
Now, the San Diego Water Authority says they will no longer
cover their promised half of the repairs, and the City of San
Diego is now weighing alternatives to repairing the
106-year-old dam. … Lake Hodges has been an emergency
water supply for San Diego since World War I. Now with the
State deeming the dam unsafe to operate in its current
condition, 12 billion gallons of water has been released and
uncertainty to this manmade lake is in the air.
… Three to 6 million visitors a year flock to Lake Tahoe, due
in large part to the crystal-clear blue water. … But a
recently released study by UC Davis on the water’s health shows
clarity is the third murkiest since records were taken in the
1960s, with visibility ending at 62.3 feet down — a fair
distance from the best clarity level recorded of 102.4 feet.
… To protect water health and clarity, environmental
groups are turning to new tech — from sand-sifting and
surface-skimming robots to a flying water taxi with
environmental perks.
… Since the 1970’s, untreated sewage flows have polluted the
[Tijuana] river, contaminating beaches from the California
communities of Coronado to La Jolla and disrupting both
military operations and civilian life. Generations of service
members stationed along the Silver Strand in San Diego County
have trained, lived and worked under the shadow of this
cross-border contamination problem. For Naval Special Warfare
units, the ocean is an operational environment. SEAL candidates
train daily in the surf zone, practicing timed swims,
underwater navigation and small-boat handling. When bacterial
counts spike, training is curtailed or moved, disrupting
schedules and adding logistical strain.
The city of San Diego has been fielding complaints from some
Bay Park residents losing sleep over its water project. The
first phase of Pure Water San Diego is under construction
overnight at the intersection of Clairemont Drive and Denver
Street. … In part of a statement emailed to NBC 7, city
spokesperson Tyler Becker says the project “will provide a
sustainable, locally controlled water supply” and that
overnight construction is “necessary to maintain safety for
both the public and construction crews.” Residents question
that last one. The whole road is closed day and night.
… [F]or wetland biologists and others with a stake in the
health of the surrounding Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the
largest estuary on the West Coast, the birds represent the
latest – and an exponentially growing – threat to the few
remaining wetlands left in California. … Mute swans
also feed gluttonously on submerged vegetation, destroying the
plant life on which other native wetland species depend. … A
measure before the state Legislature aims to allow hunters and
landowners to shoot the swans for the next five years to try to
bring their numbers down to more manageable levels in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and beyond.
Climate change appears to have driven an ongoing 25-year
shortfall in winter rains and mountain snows across the U.S.
Southwest, worsening a regional water crisis that’s also
related to hotter temperatures and growing demand. Multiple
studies now suggest that human-caused climate change is
boosting an atmospheric pattern in the North Pacific that
favors unusually low winter precipitation across the Southwest.
… A study published in Nature on Wednesday, August 13,
finds that emissions of climate-warming greenhouse gases and
tiny sun-blocking particles called aerosols have driven
long-term PDO [Pacific Decadal Oscillation] changes over the
last few decades, depriving the Southwest of much-needed winter
rain and snow.
Other drought, rain and snow news around the West:
A trial over flows in the Kern River, originally set for
December 8 this year, was kicked 15 months into the future to
Feb. 8, 2027 on Wednesday. Kern County Superior Court Judge
Gregory Pulskamp wanted to give all the parties and their many
lawyers enough time to do the proper “homework,” including
numerous depositions of expert witnesses, and await a ruling by
the California Supreme Court on one portion of the case, that
may, or may not, alter some of the key issues being examined.
He set aside 30 court days for the trial, which is anticipated
to be complex. … The high court justices will review a
ruling by the 5th District Court of Appeal that overturned a
preliminary injunction issued by Pulskamp in fall 2023 ordering
the city to keep enough water in the Kern River for fish that
had returned following that year’s epic runoff.
After weeks of hot, dry and windy weather across western
Colorado, Gunnison County Commissioners received a water-issues
update on Tuesday that was filled with “sobering” news. …
[T]he U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is once again considering
emergency releases from Blue Mesa Reservoir to bolster falling
water levels in Lake Powell. … If current conditions
persist, Lake Powell is projected to fall below the critical
elevation of 3,525 feet above sea level in the spring of 2026.
This would be the second time that has occurred since the
reservoir filled in 1980. … To complicate matters, the
2007 agreement between upper and lower Colorado River Basin
states that guides decision-making in the event of shortages is
set to expire in 2026.
As California pushes toward its ambitious goals for addressing
climate change, the fate of its signature program is hanging in
the balance. For months, lawmakers, industry groups and
environmental advocates have been mired in negotiations over
whether and how to extend the cap-and-trade program, which
limits planet-warming emissions, beyond its 2030 expiration
date. … Gov. Gavin Newsom is advocating for the program
to be extended to 2045, and hopes to see it reauthorized before
the end of the legislative session on September 12.
… Among critics’ biggest concerns are that the cap is
too weak and there are too many credits for polluting
companies.
An Arizona judge has ruled a coalition of farms and
municipalities can’t jump into a lawsuit the state has brought
against Saudi Arabian-backed farming company Fondomonte.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is suing Fondomonte in
Maricopa County Superior Court on claims its groundwater
pumping is a “public nuisance.” … In his ruling, Judge
John Blanchard acknowledged this is seen as a “test case” for
enforcing groundwater regulation, but said “generalized
concern” about potential future lawsuits isn’t a good enough
reason to let the other groups intervene.
San Diego is backing away from plans to rebuild the Lake Hodges
Dam, thanks to ballooning cost estimates and the county
water authority announcing it’s no longer willing to pay half
the cost. The state declared the dam unsafe two years ago,
demanded the water level be lowered because of flood risk and
ordered San Diego to accelerate efforts to rebuild the
106-year-old dam. The city was on track to begin the rebuild by
the end of 2029 — until a recent analysis determined the
estimated costs had climbed from $275 million to somewhere
between $474 million and $697 million. That new 386-page
analysis, which was conducted by an outside consultant, has
prompted the cash-strapped county water authority to withdraw
its support for the rebuild.
…[A] study recently published by University of Nevada, Reno
researchers finds that increasingly severe wildfires and drier
conditions in places such as Lamoille Canyon are threatening
water quality, fish and other aquatic life in streams.
… The researchers found that with drier conditions, even
less severe fires can cause lasting harm to water quality and
aquatic habitat. Wildfire ash is rich in nitrogen, and when
plant recovery is slow after a burn, they take up less nitrogen
from the soil. So, the nitrogen ends up in the streams instead,
degrading water quality and threatening fish and other species
living in those habitats.
A binational analysis of data from 20 beaches on both sides of
the border shows fecal bacteria is present in the water and
exceeds health standards almost year-round. Over a two-year
period, One Coast Project and the Permanent Forum of Binational
Waters looked into water samples gathered since 1999 along the
coastline from Carlsbad, California, about 50 miles north of
the border, to Rosarito, Baja California, roughly 15 miles
south of Tijuana. The study found that in Southern California’s
beaches, the highest concentrations of enterococci bacteria
were reported during the spring, averaging over 15,000 units
per 100 milliliters of water, nearly 100 times the binational
legal limit average in both countries.
The Delta Conveyance Project (DCP) continues to
advance as a state-of-the-art upgrade to California’s water
delivery system, ensuring a reliable and affordable water
supply for millions of residents across the state. As this
project moves forward, we remain focused on how it’s built
differently, engineered to withstand earthquakes, floods, and
climate-driven challenges while responding to impacts
in Delta communities and the environment. This
includes a $200 million Community Benefits Program to
support locally driven initiatives that reflect the values and
priorities of Delta communities. These investments are meant
to provide lasting benefits for all those who live
and work in the region.
… [T]here’s growing debate over whether additional fluoride
should be introduced to drinking water. This year, states
including Utah and Florida have banned the use of fluoride in
public water systems, and federal officials have called for
more states to follow suit. Nicole Deziel is an
associate professor of epidemiology (environmental health
sciences) and co-director of the Yale Center for Perinatal,
Pediatric and Environmental Epidemiology at the Yale School of
Public Health. In an interview, she explains the benefits and
risks of fluoride, how “forever chemicals” and climate change
impact water quality, and how we can monitor the water we
drink.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recent signing of two bills limiting
the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, could pave
the way for more housing developments in Los Gatos, a town with
a significant housing quota and a reputation for lagging on
development applications. … [A]lmost all of the proposed
projects in the town are infill and not in the Wildland Urban
Interface, which would render them exempt from CEQA analysis.
… According to the town’s Housing Element, around
three-fourths of Los Gatos has a low vulnerability to pollution
sources like ozone, particulate matter, toxic release,
hazardous waste, groundwater threats and solid waste sites.
A nearly 18-acre stretch of Menlo Park that was once home to
the U.S. Geological Survey has officially changed
hands. The U.S. General Services Administration announced
on Monday it had finalized the $137 million public sale of
Rockaway Grove, the former USGS campus. … In June,
19 U.S. senators with the Senate Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources sent a letter to the Department of the
Interior, in which they warned that the proposed $564 million
in budget cuts, the reported terminations of hundreds of
scientists and the potential termination of GSA leases for USGS
facilities were representative of a “multi-front assault on the
nation’s scientific infrastructure.” They argued that …
the federal government should err on the side of caution in
moving forward with proposed changes that may undermine key
research on disasters, ecosystems, water resources and climate
adaptation.
After decades of water shortages and well failures, work is
underway in Palermo to bring a reliable drinking water system
to residents. Construction crews began installing water mains
Wednesday at Fulton and North Villa avenues, as well as South
Villa Avenue and Upper Palermo Road, marking the start of the
Palermo Dry Well Consolidation Project. The effort is a
partnership between Butte County and the South Feather Water
and Power Agency, aiming to connect homes with a treated
drinking water system.
West Las Vegas Valley neighbors are voicing concerns about
grass removal across their neighborhoods and the impact on the
health of trees. … By 2027, businesses and residential
communities must remove “non-functional turf”: grass that has
no recreational value. Assembly Bill 356, passed in 2021,
mandates that no water from the Colorado River can irrigate
non-functional, decorative grass. As communities continue to
implement turf removal measures, residents have voiced concerns
over the visible aftermath: after grass is removed, some
surrounding trees and plants are slowly dying. Various
residents voice concerns about the impact of the “heat island”:
elevated temperatures in parts of the Valley that lack
greenery.
… The California Department of Fish and Wildlife classified
the Mojave Desert tortoise as threatened in 1989. A year later,
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the tortoise as
threatened. But California has taken measures a step further
this year by declaring the tortoise as endangered under the
state’s Endangered Species Act. … [T]hey face multiple
threats, including off-road vehicles, predators, drought, and
even military bases. Then there’s climate
change. During California’s long drought that
lasted from 2012 to 2016, Lovich conducted a study that showed
a big decline in female tortoises. That’s because when female
tortoises lay eggs, they lose water and protein.
Drought exacerbates this, ultimately affecting
the population’s survival.
